-
Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Z3 MCoupe AC Schnitzer
- Thread starter Clownshoe
- Start date
Clownshoe
Active member
mrv said:
No idea. The whole idea of torturing a car on a dyno, unless its for tuning, goes against my grain:nono:
But I do know that there is noticable difference from the reef to sea level:dropjaw: Apparently you can drop 0.4sec of the 0-100km/h times if you take them down to sea level.
Clownshoe
Active member
mrv said:
Yup, Coupe is so responsive and noticably more kick in the back when you drop the accelerator.
As for fuel consumption. I have no idea... and will keep it that way. I just notice the needle moves quicker depending how long big my smile is.
When I drove it down to Cape Town from Jhb I was driving 120-130 the whole way and I got 10l/100km.
Whacko
New member
If you want a NICE:thumb: surprise, mix 20% toluene in your fuel. At the coast the difference is amazing, at the reef I think your car will benefit even more. Don't be worried about damaging the motor, our fuel already has toluene as part of the fuel mix, but not enough. Toluene is an octane booster, and on our fuel the ecu maps a lower power profile to prevent detonation. I am hooked to this stuff, I have a 200L drum with pump, so every tank gets mixed. The gains is addictive and the fuel consumption is noticeably better.
Matt Q
///Member
C'mon guys.. get real
The numbers on that car are VERY tame and we all know that ACS does little more than lipstick and fake tits.
The ACS cars look nicer (if you like ACS styling... which worked on the Z3 but is pretty GROSS on the 5's and 7's) but there is very little in the way if tuning from ACS.. in fact their exhaust systems for the M3 are WORSE than original.. you swap the tinny original for a throatier sound but the ACS setup is HEEEAAAVVVYY and doesn't even flow that well.
I'd say the article above is a little bit of journalistic whitewashing.. great for selling magazines but not really realistic. The ACS car is pretty much the original with a few MINOR tweaks and a very very VERY fast premium pricing increase.. you are paying for exclusivity not performance.. it's like a fabiani shoe.. it looks good and not many people can afford to drive it but FFS don't try running in it
the Z3 coupe is famous for it's poor roadholding and ACS did nothing to prevent the car from being tail happy... they should have added underbody and strut braces to prevent flex like AA did to their US turbo version or Mr Blond did to his Australian versian.
Want a REAL performance Z3 for a fraction of the ACS cost? Go for a powerpulley kit, freeflow, get a nice gruppe M intake on the front end and remap that bitch.. then drop it on some coilovers and mate the front and back struts with some braces to stop it from shimmying in the corners.. then I'd say it's fast coupe...
Why do I know all this?? cause Jezebel was ALMOST a Z3M... very very very close.. there were a couple of late run models which had the S54 and which with minor mods would even now walk a E46 M3 or a Z4 for that matter... a truly brutal pit bull of a car and I've always loved the styling.. but really the ACS version is a bit of a wankers version.. no offence intended of course
The numbers on that car are VERY tame and we all know that ACS does little more than lipstick and fake tits.
The ACS cars look nicer (if you like ACS styling... which worked on the Z3 but is pretty GROSS on the 5's and 7's) but there is very little in the way if tuning from ACS.. in fact their exhaust systems for the M3 are WORSE than original.. you swap the tinny original for a throatier sound but the ACS setup is HEEEAAAVVVYY and doesn't even flow that well.
I'd say the article above is a little bit of journalistic whitewashing.. great for selling magazines but not really realistic. The ACS car is pretty much the original with a few MINOR tweaks and a very very VERY fast premium pricing increase.. you are paying for exclusivity not performance.. it's like a fabiani shoe.. it looks good and not many people can afford to drive it but FFS don't try running in it
the Z3 coupe is famous for it's poor roadholding and ACS did nothing to prevent the car from being tail happy... they should have added underbody and strut braces to prevent flex like AA did to their US turbo version or Mr Blond did to his Australian versian.
Want a REAL performance Z3 for a fraction of the ACS cost? Go for a powerpulley kit, freeflow, get a nice gruppe M intake on the front end and remap that bitch.. then drop it on some coilovers and mate the front and back struts with some braces to stop it from shimmying in the corners.. then I'd say it's fast coupe...
Why do I know all this?? cause Jezebel was ALMOST a Z3M... very very very close.. there were a couple of late run models which had the S54 and which with minor mods would even now walk a E46 M3 or a Z4 for that matter... a truly brutal pit bull of a car and I've always loved the styling.. but really the ACS version is a bit of a wankers version.. no offence intended of course
Clownshoe
Active member
Matt Q said:C'mon guys.. get real
The numbers on that car are VERY tame and we all know that ACS does little more than lipstick and fake tits.
The ACS cars look nicer (if you like ACS styling... which worked on the Z3 but is pretty GROSS on the 5's and 7's) but there is very little in the way if tuning from ACS.. in fact their exhaust systems for the M3 are WORSE than original.. you swap the tinny original for a throatier sound but the ACS setup is HEEEAAAVVVYY and doesn't even flow that well.
I'd say the article above is a little bit of journalistic whitewashing.. great for selling magazines but not really realistic. The ACS car is pretty much the original with a few MINOR tweaks and a very very VERY fast premium pricing increase.. you are paying for exclusivity not performance.. it's like a fabiani shoe.. it looks good and not many people can afford to drive it but FFS don't try running in it
the Z3 coupe is famous for it's poor roadholding and ACS did nothing to prevent the car from being tail happy... they should have added underbody and strut braces to prevent flex like AA did to their US turbo version or Mr Blond did to his Australian versian.
Want a REAL performance Z3 for a fraction of the ACS cost? Go for a powerpulley kit, freeflow, get a nice gruppe M intake on the front end and remap that bitch.. then drop it on some coilovers and mate the front and back struts with some braces to stop it from shimmying in the corners.. then I'd say it's fast coupe...
Why do I know all this?? cause Jezebel was ALMOST a Z3M... very very very close.. there were a couple of late run models which had the S54 and which with minor mods would even now walk a E46 M3 or a Z4 for that matter... a truly brutal pit bull of a car and I've always loved the styling.. but really the ACS version is a bit of a wankers version.. no offence intended of course
I think you looked at an S50 MCoupe?
Just to correct you abit and move you geographically to South Africa.
All the S54 MCoupes in SA have the ACS bits (I think... there might be 5 standard S54s). So you are paying a premium for the fact that it has a better engine than the other coupes in SA, plus there are only 25 S54s in SA at last count. Not mentioning the other tweaks in the S54 powered cars like the DSC that helps alot in the wet.
Styling? No ACS styling on the SA Coupes only the mags.
As for the performance. The ACS exhaust did not need to be very flash to get power gains because the BMW exhaust was designed to detune the S54... something about the fact that it was a marketing nightmare to release a faster car than the recently released E46 M3... So the ACS exhaust just brings the output back inline with the S54 equiped E46s. And it sounds quite... nice... aswell. So seeing as the ACS MCoupe has the same output as an E46M3 and a Z4 and weighs less it should prance them.
As for body stiffness. The MCoupe is the stiffest BMW ever produced or atleast at that stage, and I doubt that anything has changed so body braces are not necessary unless you are Mr. Blond (a drag racer). You are maybe mistaken in thinking that, as it is based on the z3, it has scutter shake... but you see... the only reason it has a roof is to stiffen it up. The Coupe was designed to be stiff.
As for the window dressing. The ACS suspension with the 18inch ACS type IIs is a very well balanced set up, maybe a tad to low for our roads though. The short shift is a pleasure. As mentioned the exhaust takes it up to full e46 spec power. So the ACS components take all the bad bits of the M Coupe (Suspension, Exhaust (and I don't like the roadstars)) and replaces them with something better. And may the Gods of autostyling be praised that the additions did not extend to ACS wings, skirts, Front flippers and that ACS were not at the Tension stage yet. And as I understand it the ACS components were added at no extra charge by BMW as a marketing trick to get them to move out of showrooms.
Tail happy? Sorry not my car? I find it well planted and I have to bury my foot in a corner to break out the rear end... so ACS must have done something right... And anyway its a fun car.
:thumbsup:
P>S Matt only you could be forgiven for saying the figures are tame... and its still a standard S54 so all the aftermarket tweaks are available, if you want, but at the end of the day I have a bog standard 0-100 5 sec car (at sealevel)(but then why would I want to be anywhere else). But if you go for a non-ACS car you are getting an s50... in my opinion an inferior engin to the S54.
calypso
///Member
Here is an article with some nice info:
http://jalopnik.com/258496/the-jalopnik-fantasy-garage-first+generation-bmw-m-coupe
http://jalopnik.com/258496/the-jalopnik-fantasy-garage-first+generation-bmw-m-coupe
Clownshoe
Active member
Feb 2001-May 2002 168 RHD S54 Coupes were made. Of this some inside info from BMW says that 40 RHD S54 were destined for SA/ southern Africa. 35 were fitted with ACS bits. I have never seen or heard of a standard S54 so not sure what happened to the 5 standard ones. But i was told if a car is labled as destined for a country it can often end up elsewhere. Maybe Botswana/ Namibia, or as a grey to another country.Matt Q said:agreed and agreed except that the S54 didn't only go in the ACS.. it was put in all the late run Z3M's
That is why there is a price difference between the ACS and standad cars in SA.
Clownshoe
Active member
Whacko said:
I have read that alot but mainly from our colder wetter brothers in europe and the north north americas. With the power and the short wheel base it would be rather lively in icy conditions. For our weather conditions I don't think its an issue. In dry conditions I find that while the suspension is e30 and e36 based the low and central COG in the coupe makes for a well balanced car. The weight distribution is almost 50-50 front to back.
I quite like driving in the wet... the missus doesn't like driving with me in the wet:mmm:
Matt Q
///Member
Excuse the tone of last night's reply.. was sick and so a bit grumpy.
The poor handling was more the car's tendancy to spin out and this was WAY more prevalent in the cabrio than in the more rare and later released coupe.. don't get me wrong I think the Z3M is one of the finest cars BMW ever produced. I'd say it's in my tope 3 bimmers of all time and when I have enough spare cash I will 100% definitely get one for a project car as I rate is as the most awesome platform to build an insane project car.
But I would still change out the stock Bimmer suspension for some good coilovers and look and front and back strut braces. I wonder if an E46 rear wheel setup could be used to replace the stock Z3 setup... hmm....
The poor handling was more the car's tendancy to spin out and this was WAY more prevalent in the cabrio than in the more rare and later released coupe.. don't get me wrong I think the Z3M is one of the finest cars BMW ever produced. I'd say it's in my tope 3 bimmers of all time and when I have enough spare cash I will 100% definitely get one for a project car as I rate is as the most awesome platform to build an insane project car.
But I would still change out the stock Bimmer suspension for some good coilovers and look and front and back strut braces. I wonder if an E46 rear wheel setup could be used to replace the stock Z3 setup... hmm....
